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Vetted coverage of Governor Hochul's administration, grouped by day. Every item names its publication and carries a source-credibility tier — Tier 1 primary/wire, Tier 2 established outlet, Tier 3 secondary. No spin; each story links to its original source.

2 items

Sep 18, 2026

2
WXXI News (Beth Adams)TIER 2High

Blakeman in Greece (Rochester): says he would sign an "emergency order" lifting the fracking ban to cut utility rates in half, calls the POWER checks "an election year trick," and says he opposes large-scale solar on farmland and offshore wind

Second day of the same message, new mechanism on record: at a Sept. 18 campaign stop in Greece, Monroe County, Blakeman said Hochul's $100-$200 POWER checks are "a scheme, and it's election year trick" after utility bills rose "700 to $1,000 or more" a year (campaign figure, unverified here). He vowed to cut utility rates in half by signing an emergency order to lift the state's fracking ban, and said he opposes large-scale solar arrays on agricultural land and offshore wind projects. WXXI notes NYISO attributes rate pressure to natural-gas prices, aging infrastructure and tightening supply, and that the fracking ban was codified in state law in 2020 after a DEC review. See fact check on whether an executive order can lift a statutory ban.

Long Island Life & Politics (Hank Russell)TIER 3High

Blakeman holds up a jar of peanuts at a Howard Beach presser and calls Hochul's $200 POWER checks "a big election year scam," claiming utility rates rose 48 times and 50% on her watch; he pledges to cut energy bills in half and "open up" the state's natural-gas supply. Hochul campaign: "100% MAGA" Blakeman "opposes every dollar" she returns to families

Blakeman's counter-message to the week's $1B POWER rebate rollout: at a Howard Beach press conference he called the up-to-$200 checks "peanuts" and "a shell game," said Hochul "thinks we're stupid" and is "trying to buy our votes," and repeated his claim of 48 rate hikes and a 50% ($700-$1,000 per resident) increase since she took office. He said only 30% of a bill pays for electricity usage and criticized upstate wind and solar spending. New pledges on record: cut residents' energy bills in half and expand natural-gas supply. Blakeman's 48-hike and 50% figures are his campaign's numbers and are not independently verified here; Hochul's office puts state utility-bill relief since 2021 at $6.6B plus the $1B checks. The Hochul campaign responded by tying Blakeman to Trump-era gas prices and saying he opposes tariff relief, car-insurance cuts and universal child care.